Japan kicks off LLWS with win
Chofu City, Japan, kicked off its Little League Baseball World Series tournament in dominant fashion, defeating Bologna, Italy, 20-0, in South Williamsport, Pa.
The Japan Region Champion had a slow start, but after a scoreless first, Chofu City posted 18 hits in the game, including a grand slam by Yuto Misaki in the fifth inning that lead to the team scoring 14 runs.
Japan’s Ritsu Nishikawa, Yuto Kakeba and Yuto Misaki completed the shutout through the fifth inning to end the game via the 10-run rule.
More baseball
The second game was dominated by the pitching of Virginia’s Justin Lee, Liam Thyen and Chase Obstgarten. The trio combined for nine strikeouts and no hits allowed in the Southeast Region’s 3-0 win against the New England Region’s Barrington, Rhode Island.
• Claiming an early lead, Chung Nam, Taiwan, representing the Asia-Pacific, pulled away with three runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to a 10-3 win against the Latin American champs from Cacique Mara, Venezuela.
• Coon Rapids-Andover Minn., came out on top against Great Lakes representative Bowling Green East, Ky., with a 2-1 victory. Jameson Kuznia earned the win for the Midwest Champions.
• West champion East Maui, Hawaii, grabbed an early lead on its way to a 5-2 victory against Southwest representative Eastbank, La.
• Santiago Leija dominated by pitching a complete game for Epitacio “Mala” Torres, Mexico, striking out 11 to defeat Coquitlam, Canada, 5-0.
• Mid-Atlantic representative Elizabeth, N.J., won a tight game against the Northwest, as they rallied to beat Salem, Ore., 6-2.
Basketball
Ariel Atkins scored 18 points, Emma Meesseman added 17 points and the visiting Washington Mystics (19-7) clinched a WNBA playoff berth with an 86-79 win against the Minnesota Lynx (13-13). ... Shekinna Stricklen made two free throws with 4.3 seconds left as host Connecticut (18-8) beat Seattle (14-13), 79-78. ... Allisha Gray scored 22 points and the host Dallas Wings (9-17) won their third in a row, beating New York (8-17), 83-77.
Elsewhere
A Dallas-area school district where the El Paso shooting suspect graduated has reinstated a September football game that was cancelled for fears that extremists would use it as a platform to get attention. Sara Bonser, superintendent of the Plano Independent School District, announced the reinstatement of the game between Plano and Eastwood High School of El Paso. The Plano school was attended by Patrick Crosius, the 21-year-old man police say confessed to the Aug. 3 mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart that killed 22 people.